UN Observers powerless against the attacks of the Syrian government armed forces 2605121

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Defense News - Syria

 
 
Saturday, May 26, 2012, 10:19 AM
 
UN Observers powerless against the attacks of the Syrian government armed forces.
At least 90 people have been killed in an attack by Syrian government forces and loyalists on Houla, a town in Homs province, activists say. The victims of Friday's assault included at least dead 25 children, killed after government forces tried to break into the town, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
     
At least 90 people have been killed in an attack by Syrian government forces and loyalists on Houla, a town in Homs province, activists say. The victims of Friday's assault included at least dead 25 children, killed after government forces tried to break into the town, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
U.N. officials and members of the United Nations observers mission in Syria are seen travelling in U.N. vehicles at a Syrian army checkpoint in the town of Douma, near Damascus May 20, 2012.
     

Houla has been the scene of frequent anti-government protests since the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad began in March last year. The town has also become a hub for opposition fighters.

Syria's main opposition bloc put the toll at more than 100 and urged the UN Security Council to convene an emergency meeting to examine the massacre.

"More than 110 people were killed (half of whom are children) by the Syrian regime's forces", the Syrian National Council said in a statement.

"Some of the victims were hit by heavy artillery while others, entire families, were massacred," said the statement by Bassma Kodmani, the council's head of foreign relations.

Months of U.N. Security Council attempts to quell the Syrian crisis have so far failed to stymie the bloodshed. Efforts to formally condemn President Bashar al-Assad's regime have been vetoed by Russia and China.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a sobering report Friday on the "continuing crisis" in Syria, including "extensive human rights violations."

Even the presence of U.N. observers -- tasked with monitoring an agreed-upon cease-fire that appears to be violated every day.